Field of the Invention
The present invention regards a system for measuring and using parameters during chest compression in a life-saving situation or a practice situation. The system may be connected to devices for performance feedback, in order to increase quality and efficiency.
Chest compression is a part of cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR). CPR is described as life-saving first aid, and is part of the treatment given in case of sudden cardiac death. The compression depth is an important parameter during chest compression, which distance is given in centimeters in the CPR guidelines. Up until now, it has not been possible to measure this quantity in a sensible manner in connection with chest compressions on humans. In practice situations involving manikins on the other hand, it is common practice to measure and feed this information back to the lifesaver. Through practicing chest compression on a manikin, the lifesaver should be capable of repeating the same movement pattern on humans. Two facts make this difficult: First of all, studies show that a lot of people's ability to repeat this movement pattern is poor already immediately after being trained. Likewise, studies show that the ability to repeat the movement pattern is lessened further over time. Secondly, people who are to be given chest compressions will offer different degrees of resistance to the depression, as the human anatomy varies. As such, an assessment of the compression depth cannot be made on the basis of the force applied. The quality of the chest compression will be completely dependent on the ability of the rescuer to transfer what he or she has learned in the practice situation, and his or her ability to judge the depth and rate of compressions.
Studies in several countries have looked at the connection between the quality of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and survival. These have indicated that the survival rate increases by a factor of 3-4 in the case of high quality CPR.